The Void
A friend of mine had a severe leg injury. She had to have a rod inserted all the way up her leg. The bones were broken in a splinter fashion and it was a very long recovery period. She continued to struggle with her leg and was not gaining the use of it properly. Amputation was considered.
A second opinion by a different surgeon found the problem. The rod that had been inserted into her leg was an inch too long and was not allowing bone tissue to re-connect. Instead, there were very painful and damaging infections ……in the void between the bones. She ultimately had to have the first rod removed and the proper one fitted. This also included taking bone grafts from her hip and packing the bone tissue into the void between the bone breaks. She soon recovered the use of her leg.
The human body cannot sustain “voids” in it’s tissue. We are built in such a manner that every part of our body is “filled” with bone, flesh, muscle, tendons, etc. A void creates an opportunity for infection that can lead to death.
We are also spiritual beings who need the “voids” filled in our souls and spirits. Existentialism is the term used to describe man’s continual search for the meaning of life. Through the writings of Kirkland Rollo May Hagel and Frankl, we are taught that man is free and he is what he makes himself and that he is a dynamic state of becoming/ evolving. They assert that he must focus on experience and on the here and now. The goal is finding one’s essence. Sounds reasonable. No?
The problem is that WE do not possess the power to “become”. We do not possess the power to find our “essence”. We cannot, of ourselves, fill our own “voids”. How simple life might be if we could. But boy do we try. We have become a world of obsession. We obsess over games of all sorts and lose friends over the color jersey someone wears. We site statistics of wins and losses and coaches and players. We revel in our wins and mostly defend our defeats. The favorite line is always “wait till next year”. We cannot drop it for a second. We even develop “fantasy teams” to keep our appetite fed until the next season. We can’t watch one game and go on to something else. It is constant. We even have “jersey days” at church and show our team pride.
The issue is not the game or the jersey or the statistics. The issue is our attempt to be filling our voids. We see relationships as disposable as a wet paper towel. We move from one to the other …yet again to fill a void. We strive to achieve. We ache to become wealthy to the point of playing long odds at becoming insanely wealthy on the backs of other people’s losses. We march for some unknown and ill understood philosophy to fill that void.
When one thing no longer fills the void….we move on to the next shinny object. We look for love and acceptance and approval in all the wrong ways. Just trying to fill that void. The more we try, the worse we get. Finally our decisions can be our undoing.
I am not bashing having fun and enjoying a game or playing to win. I believe in competition. The reason for this blog is to help us to understand that if the void has a certain shape or need, nothing short of that will fill that void.
Man is born with a God sized hole in his heart. Nothing short of a relationship with God will fill it. I was listening to a preacher who is considered to be a huge success today. He was talking about the whole idea that NOT ONE OF US has the kind of faith that we need. His contention is that we believe in God , but we don’t believe God. I was preaching that 50 years ago. Dude stole my stuff. But I have found over the years that he is wrong. I do believe we can have that relationship that fills that void that nothing else can. I know I have that. Without sounding arrogant, I can truthfully say that I believe God.
I Know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day. I know what has filled that void for over 65 years. He is as real to me as the very air I breathe. I have no doubt about His love for me and mine for Him. It is not based on actions but upon faith.
Your void will be filled …somehow. Something will slowly take a place in that void. Make sure YOU decide well what will do that for you.
Ron